David Davis (Australian politician)
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David McLean Davis (born April 8, 1962) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since March 1996, representing East Yarra Province. He is the current Victorian Shadow Minister for Environment and Planning.
Davis was born in Millicent, South Australia, but went to school in Melbourne. He studied applied science at the Phillip Institute of Technology (now part of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). He began working as a chiropractor, before going on to study philosophy at the University of Melbourne, although he maintained a private practice until being elected to the Legislative Council in 1996.
Davis had become involved with the Liberal Party during the early 1990s, serving as a delegate on several party committees, and acting as a delegate to the party's State Council between 1993 and 1995. This was to ultimately result in receiving preselection for the safe Liberal seat of East Yarra at the 1996 state election.
After the Liberal Party's surprise defeat at the 1999 state election, Davis found himself as the Chair of the Opposition Waste Watch Committee. In this position, he emerged as one of the Labor government's strongest critics, regularly going public with perceived claims of abuses. In 2000, he was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Scrutiny of Government, in addition to his committee work, and in the leadup to the state election, this was converted to a ministerial position, specifically for Davis.
The Liberal Party took a disastrous turn at the 2002 state election, with a massive swing against them across the state, and numerous seats being lost that had never before fallen into Labor hands. After reports that he would retire at the election, Davis continued on, and himself was seriously challenged in East Yarra, but narrowly scraped over the line. In the aftermath of the election, the party had a desperate lack of capable ministers, and Davis found himself promoted to the position of Shadow Minister for Health, replacing Ron Wilson, who was one of the election casualties.
In July 2004, Davis issued an apology to the Legislative Council for the destruction inflicted on Victoria's regional health system by the Liberal Party under Jeff Kennett's 1992-1999 government. In September 2004, Davis announced that if elected, a Liberal government would ban smoking in pubs and clubs. This was followed by a decision from the state government weeks later to the same effect.
Davis is a factional powerbroker in the Liberal Party, and was the source of numerous tensions during the reign of Robert Doyle as a notable opponent of his leadership. In an attempt to shore up his position, Doyle demoted Davis in 2005 from health to the lower-profile environment portfolio, even though Davis was one of the opposition's most high-profile figures. In May 2006, after the resignation of Doyle and his replacement with Davis ally Ted Baillieu, Davis was once again promoted and given Baillieu's former portfolio of planning.
